Says Prof. Aldrete, “This is a revised and substantially expanded edition of a book that we published in 2012 with the same title. That earlier version was a finalist for the Holton Book Award given by the Archaeological Institute of America to a non-fiction book that best conveys ‘the importance and excitement of archaeology to the general public.’ Because of the success of that version, Bloomsbury Press decided to print the current revised, expanded second edition in an affordable paperback format.”

The expanded second edition features a completely new chapter that examines problems and challenges faced by the modern world that were also concerns in antiquity, and explores how these issues were dealt with by the Greeks and Romans. Among these are: environmental issues such as deforestation, pollution, and climate change, celebrities and cults of personality, obsession with fashion trends, fashion and social status, and ancient versions of the debates around globalization and cultural imperialism.

Here is the press’ description of the book:

Book Cover The Long Shadow of Antiquity

A vivid exploration of the many ways the classical world remains relevant today, this is a passionate justification of why we continue to read about and study the lives and works of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Challenging the way the phrase “That’s just ancient history” is used to dismiss something as being irrelevant, Gregory and Alicia Aldrete demonstrate just how much ancient Greece and Rome have influenced and shaped our world in ways both large and small. From the more commonly known influences on politics, law, literature, and timekeeping through to the everyday rituals and routines we take for granted when we exercise, dine, marry and dress, we are rooted in the ancient world.

If you have ever wondered to what degree we still walk in the footsteps of the ancients or wanted to understand how study of the classical world can inform and explain our lives today, this is the book for you.

Aldrete is UW-Green Bay’s Frankenthal Professor of History and Humanistic Studies.